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Are male calico cats akin to unicorns? Oakland reader wants the real story

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:40 GMT

DEAR JOAN: I’m planning on adopting a cat next year. I’ve always wanted a calico cat, so I’ll be looking for one. I just think their coloring is so pretty and unique.My friend and next door neighbor told me that if I get a calico, it will be a female. I wasn’t looking specifically for a male or female, just a happy, beautiful cat, but now I’m wondering – are all calico cats really female?My friend said if anyone ever found a male calico, they’d be rich because they could use it to breed more male calicos. That didn’t sound quite right to me.Can you tell me the real story?— Natalie, OaklandDEAR NATALIE: Your friendly neighbor is sort of right, but since you asked, here’s the full story, explained by someone who only got a B+ in biology. I would have gotten an A, but I couldn’t bring myself to collect any more insects for the class project.Part of the calico-ness of calico cats is dependent on the sex. Like in humans, females have two XX chromosomes, and males have the XY. A cal...

Hikers find missing Bernese mountain dog in Colorado mountains after nearly two months

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:40 GMT

A 14-month-old Bernese mountain dog that was missing for seven weeks was found by hikers near a trail in western Jefferson County this week and reunited with her owner.Hikers, open space marshals and an animal control officer used a tarp to carry Nova Riley, a 14-month-old Bernese mountain dog whose leg was broken, down to a trailhead north of Conifer. (Courtesy Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office) Two hikers spotted Nova Riley near a trail in Meyer Ranch Park on Sunday, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. The park is approximately three miles north of Conifer along U.S. 285.Nova Riley, a service dog in training to help her owner safely move around, was able to slip out of her harness and run away when she became spooked in a Safeway parking lot, her owner Robynne Simons-Sealy said.Simons-Sealy, who is disabled, said community members and neighbors tirelessly helped her search for Nova Riley. The dog was spotted several times, but was too scared to come near peopl...

Cupertino sees its first “builder’s remedy” project

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:40 GMT

A Bay Area developer is invoking the “builder’s remedy” in Cupertino with plans to demolish three commercial buildings and erect a five-story apartment complex in its place.Acclaim Companies submitted its application in late September through the provision of a state housing law that allows developers to build projects larger than local zoning laws typically allowed in cities that haven’t received approval on state-mandated housing plans.Located at 20015 Stevens Creek Blvd., the project will include 141 units — with 20% of them affordable as dictated by the “builder’s remedy” — and two floors of underground parking. The development is estimated to be 70 feet tall, which is 25 feet higher than what the lot is zoned for.“The city reviews and responds to applications in a timely manner, and is committed to responding to this project just as efficiently,” Deputy City Manager Tina Kapoor said in a statement. “The cit...

NYPD Paid Out $30 Million in Misconduct Cases Before Litigation in First Half of 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:40 GMT

The New York Police Department has been making headlines for the huge settlements paid out by the city in misconduct cases. In the first half of 2023, New York City paid more than $50 million in lawsuits alleging misconduct by members of the NYPD. That figure is on track to exceed $100 million by the end of the year — but even that total doesn’t capture how much the city has to spend in cases where its cops are accused of everything from causing car accidents to beating innocent people.The $100 million figure does not include lawsuits settled by the city prior to litigation, which reached $30 million in the first nine months of this year, according to data obtained from the office of the New York City Comptroller through a public records request. Pre-litigation settlements from July 2022 through September of this year totaled $50 million — meaning the city’s payouts in such suits since July 2022, including those settled after litigation — rose to a total of around $280 million....

Powerful storm pounds the Black Sea region, leaving more than a half-million people without power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:40 GMT

A weekend storm that pounded the Black Sea region toppled trees, tore down power lines and flooded coastal areas of southern Russia and Ukraine, leaving more than a half-million people without power Monday, officials and media reports said.The Moscow region, meanwhile, was blanketed with snow that piled drifts up to 25 centimeters (almost 10 inches), three times heavier than normal, the Tass news agency said.The storms were part of a weather system that created blizzard-like conditions in Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia on Sunday, dumping snow and causing power outages and fatal traffic accidents.Emergency conditions were declared in several regions of the Crimean Peninsula, Tatyana Lyubetskaya, a Russia-installed official at the Crimean environmental monitoring department, told Tass.With strong winds forecast to continue Monday, Crimean officials told people to stay home as government facilities, including schools and hospitals, were closed.The storm was one of the most power...

Guardiola praises the late Terry Venables’ ‘incredible’ impact on Barcelona and Spanish soccer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:40 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — There’s a photograph doing the rounds of Pep Guardiola, then a wide-eyed 15-year-old ball boy, looking up to Terry Venables after the grinning English coach had been hoisted onto the shoulders of two Barcelona players at the Camp Nou.Venables had just guided Barcelona to the European Cup final in 1986, adding to his popularity after leading the Catalan team to its first Spanish league title in 11 years the previous season.Guardiola was in Barcelona’s storied La Masia academy at the time and he could sense the impact Venables was having around the club. More than bringing some typically English elements — physicality, strength at set pieces, hard pressing and organization — to the team, Venables also added tactical acumen to Barcelona and to Spanish soccer as a whole. Plenty of excitement, too, as Barcelona finally started to compete again with the likes of Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad for the league title.Guardiola was in reminiscent mood...

Sierra Leone’s leader says most behind the weekend attacks are arrested, but few details are given

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:40 GMT

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Sierra Leone’s president said most of the leaders of weekend attacks on the nation’s main military barracks and prisons had been arrested, though the capital remained tense on Monday with many streets empty after a 24-hour curfew was relaxed to a dusk-to-dawn lockdown.The attacks early Sunday surprised residents and security forces in the West African nation and raised fears of a possible coup in a troubled region.But “calm has been restored,” President Julius Maada Bio said in a Sunday night address, adding that security operations and investigations continued.Residents in the capital of Freetown were awoken by sounds of heavy gunfire as gunmen tried to break into the key armory in the country’s largest military barracks, located near the presidential villa.The gunmen exchanged fire for several hours with security forces. They also targeted major detention centers – including the central prison holding more than 2,000 inmates – and fr...

¿Te has vuelto cuidador de un familiar enfermo o lesionado? 7 consejos para preparar tu hogar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:40 GMT

El siguiente contenido ha sido creado en colaboración con Kaiser Permanente. Este contenido no representa las opinions del equipo editorial de Telemundo Washington. Haz clic aquí para conocer más sobre Kaiser Permanente.Convertirse en cuidador no es una tarea sencilla, y quizás después del huracán inicial de emociones y estrés, puedes comenzar a tomar nota de tus nuevas responsabilidades antes de navegar este rol nuevo y empezar a preparar tu hogar o el de tu ser querido para lo que viene.Un espacio bien organizado y seguro puede mejorar significativamente la calidad de vida tanto del paciente como del cuidador. Aunque no hay una experiencia singular para este papel a frecuentemente inesperado, hay varias medidas que puedes tomar para adaptar tu hogar que facilitarán la transición y priorizarán la comodidad y bienestar de tu familiar.Sigue leyendo para descubrir siete consejos esenciales para preparar tu hogar como un nuevo cuidador.Instala lo relacionado a necesidades bás...

Controversial president of the Bulgarian soccer federation resigns following mass protests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:40 GMT

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Borislav Mihaylov, the controversial president of the Bulgarian soccer federation and a former national team goalkeeper, resigned Monday following mass protests against him.A new president will be elected at a federation congress next year.Several thousand soccer fans had taken to the streets in recent weeks to demand the resignation of Mihaylov, the goalkeeper on the Bulgaria team that reached the semifinals at the 1994 World Cup.The fury was fueled by the federation’s decision to play a European Championship qualifying match against Hungary on Oct. 16 in an empty stadium, and longer-term unhappiness with the national team’s decline.Additional pressure for the resignation came from the country’s prime minister, Nikolay Denkov, who urged in a letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino to take “decisive action” by removing Mihaylov as federation leader and installing an interim management.The letter, which was published on the government website, cited “long-ama...

Ukraine has a new way to get its grain to the world despite Russia’s threat in the Black Sea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:40 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Grain thunders into rail cars and trucks zip around a storage facility in central Ukraine, a place that growing numbers of companies turned to as they struggled to export their food to people facing hunger around the world.Now, more of the grain is getting unloaded from overcrammed silos and heading to ports on the Black Sea, set to traverse a fledgling shipping corridor launched after Russia pulled out of a U.N.-brokered agreement this summer that allowed food to flow safely from Ukraine during the war.“It was tight, but we kept working … we sought how to accept every ton of products needed for our partners,” facility general director Roman Andreikiv said about the end of the grain deal in July. Ukraine’s new corridor, protected by the military, has now allowed him to “free up warehouse space and increase activity.”Growing numbers of ships are streaming toward Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and heading out loaded with grain, metals and other cargo despite the threat...